The Celestials is a short historical novel about two Chinese siblings,Li Chen and his younger sister Li Ping,sent by their parents to Tsin Chin Shan,the “New Gold Mountain” in the colony of Victoria. It opens in Guangzhou,where the family runs an apothecary shop. Having avoided most of the disruption and danger caused by the Opium Wars and the bloody Taiping Rebellion against the Qing Dynasty,the family is cultured and well-educated,finding refuge in Tang Dynasty poetry,Chinese satire,and Buddhist sutras. The second British bombardment of the city changes things decisively,and the children are spirited to Melbourne (Li Ping dressed as a man) with the assistance of the See Yup society. Marginalised on the goldfields,they forge an alliance with impoverished Irish settlers who have links to Ned Kelly and his gang of bushrangers. Ian David Roberts has written a narrative of great beauty and economy of language. The author wears his erudition lightly and invests the Chinese perspective on this period of history with cultural depth and moving authenticity.
Everything Under the Moon
Ed.,Michael Earp,Affirm,$35
Most fairy tales tend to reinforce conservative social values,especially when it comes to gender and sexuality. Alternative retellings came into vogue as politics became more progressive,and writers such as Angela Carter,whose collection The Bloody Chamber sees Red Riding Hood jumping into bed with the wolf,began a tradition of subversion that continues today.
This handsome hardback contains an illustrated anthology of fairy tales seen through a queer lens. It includes Lili Wilkinson’s charmingly fresh retake on the Cinderella story. An unusual girl steals one of 12 pairs of glass slippers. Each is destined for a potential bride,the prince to choose from them in a contest reminiscent ofThe Bachelor. As knives come out,our narrator develops a crush,there’s a sharp plot twist,and an unexpected happily ever after wins the day. A fine selection of YA authors,Helena Fox and Will Kostakis among them,reimagine and reinvigorate classic stories from LGBTQIA+ perspectives. If trad fairy tales are Kansas,this is Oz,with every colour of the rainbow represented.
Mr Einstein’s Secretary
Matthew Reilly,Macmillan,$44.99
Matthew Reilly’s start as an author is the stuff of legend. When his first novel Contest was rejected by publishers in 1996,he self-published and spruiked it around Sydney bookstores one by one. Twenty books later he’s a bestselling action writer and film director based in LA.Mr Einstein’s Secretary represents something of a departure from his action novels. This epic historical thriller follows a remarkable woman over four decades. In 1919,a teenaged Hanna Fischer wants to study physics under Albert Einstein. She will eventually be his secretary,but her true career lies in espionage and her life as a secret agent takes her into an underworld of New York gangsters,before Hanna embarks on a perilous mission in Germany,infiltrating high-ranking members of the Nazi party and Hitler’s inner circle during World War II. The revolution in physics between the wars (and its collision with revolutionary politics) was recently dramatised inOppenheimer. Reilly conveys the suspense and febrile atmosphere of the era in an addictive page-turner that’s as well-researched,tightly constructed,and action-packed as ever.